The 47th Annual Meeting of the IWC
in Dublin, Ireland
1995

IWC/47/SEST1ACTION PLAN FOR JAPANESE COMMUNITY-BASED WHALING (CBW)The Government of Japan1995

SECTION 1. FINDINGS, PURPOSES AND
POLICYof this Action Plan.
3. Policy. It is the policy of the Government of Japanto make possible the continuation of the culturalsocio-economic, religious, dietary and historical
heritage of the four traditional coastal whaling
communities in Japan and to alleviate the social,
cultural and dietary distress suffered by thosecommunities as a result of the whaling moratoriumby providing an interim relief allocation of 50 North
Pacific minke whales.

1. Findings. The findings of this Action Plan are as
follows:(a) Community-based whaling has deep roots inJapanese history and continues to provide fortraditional coastal, nutritional, and economic wellbeing.
(b) Hardships have been imposed upon these coastal
whaling communities by the cessation of minke
whaling under the International Convention for the
Regulation of Whaling.
(c) The International Whaling Commission has
recognized these hardships in a consensus
resolution (IWC/45/51) calling for expeditious
work to alleviate the distress suffered by thesecommunities.
(d) The North Pacific minke whale population isclassified as healthy under the Schedule of the
ICRW. Its current population level has been agreed
by the IWC Scientific Committee to be at least
25,000 animals.
2 Purposes. Based upon the foregoing findings, thepurposes of this Action Plan are:(a) to make possible the continuation of the cultural,social, religious, dietary and historical heritage ofthe four traditional coastal whaling communities
in Japan;(b) to alleviate the profound social, cultural and dietary
distress suffered by the four coastal whaling
communities through an interim relief allocation;(c) to ensure that the edible whale products from theinterim relief allocation will be distributed within
the four traditional coastal whaling communities
of Japan;(d) to reimburse direct and indirect costs reasonably
incurred in the harvesting, processing anddistribution of the whale products authorized under
this Action Plan and to collect levies fromconsumers calculated in a manner to recover the
reimbursements and the costs of administering thisAction Plan;(e) to manage and regulate the harvest of the interim
allocation in accordance with the provisions of thisAction Plan; and,(f) to provide for maximum participation of the local
communities with appropriate levels of government
involvement and oversight in the implementation

SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS
1. The term ‘community-based whaling’ means
traditional small-scale coastal whaling having
profound socio-economic, social, dietary, andhistorical significance associated with the catching,processing, distribution and consumption of whale
products in conformity with local tradition (IWC/
44/SEST5) to the extent that interference with thesepractices seriously endangers the viability andvitality of these traditional societies (see IWC/41/
SE3).
2. The term ‘coastal whaling community’ means oneof the four coastal whaling communities, identified
on the map appended to this Action Plan. Thesefour coastal whaling communities, identified on the
map appended to this Action Plan, are:(a) Abashiri, located in northeastern Hokkaido on the
Sea of Okhotsuku, Hokkaido Prefecture;(b) Ayukawa, located on the Oshika Peninsula innorthern Honshu on the Pacific Ocean, Miyagi
Prefecture;(c) Wadaura, located on the Boso Peninsula in central
Honshu on the Pacific Ocean, Chiba Prefecture;and,(d) Taiji, located on the Kii peninsula in central Honshu
on the Pacific Ocean, Wakayama Prefecture.
3. The term ‘designated port of landing’ means any
one of the three ports of landing identified inparagraph 7 of Section 3.
4. The term ‘Council’ means any of the fourcommunity management Councils establishedunder Section 4 of this Action Plan.
5. The term ‘Minister’ means the Minister of the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries ofJapan.
6. The term ‘person’ means any individual,
partnership, corporation, association, cooperative,

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Council, or other entity, any national, prefectural,or local municipal government or any entity of agovernment.
7. The term ‘individual community member’ means
an individual person whose official residence islocated within one of the four coastal whaling
communities as defined in paragraph 2 of Section
2.
8. The term ‘whale products’ means any unprocessedor processed part of a whale, including, but notlimited to, blubber and meat.
9. The team ‘provisions of the Action Plan’ includes
any administrative guidance, regulation, guidelines
or permit issued in accordance with this ActionPlan.

8. Processing specifications. The meat and otheredible parts of the whale landed for processing
under this Action Plan shall not be processed into
portions larger than one kilogram.

SECTION 4. MANAGEMENT COUNCILS
1. Establishment. A management Council shall beestablished in each of the four coastal whaling
communities described in paragraph 2 of Section
2.
2. Organization(a) Membership. Each Council shall consist of no morethan 15 members appointed from among thefollowing government offices and community
organizations:(1) office of the community mayor;(2) administrative divisions for fisheries,
health, education & tourism within theprefectural and community governments;(3) administrative division for coastal fisheries
within the national government;(4) local school and hospital boards;(5) local chamber of commence;(6) local fisheries and whaling cooperatives;(7) community citizen organizations; and(8) whale product processors and distributors.
(b) Appointments. The members of each Council shallbe appointed by the Minister.
(c) Offices. Each Council shall select from its
membership a Chairman to preside over meetingsof the Council and a Vice-Chairman to preside in
the absence of the Chairman.
(d) Advisors. Each Council shall appoint academic
advisors with relevant experience from such fields
as cetology and/or anthropology.
(e) Auditors(1) Each Council shall appoint an internal
auditor to oversee and audit all accounts
and activities of the Council.
(2) The local municipal government shallappoint an external auditor to inspect andaudit all accounts of the Council and theaccounts of the municipal government
related to Council activities.
(f) Secretariat(1) Each Council shall appoint a secretariat tocarry out the administrative functions of theCouncil.
(2) The local municipality shall provide thesecretariat with appropriate office space andnecessary administrative support services.
(g) Compensation and expenses(1) Council members shall serve on a voluntarybasis without compensation.
(2) C o m p e n s a t i o n a n d e x p e n s e s f o r
management of the Council and its
secretariat shall be paid from levies
collected under Section 5 of this Action

SECTION 3. OPERATION AND
PROCESSING SPECIFICATIONS
1. Species. The species authorized under this Action
Plan is the minke whale from the Okhotsk Sea-West
Pacific stock of the North Pacific.
2. Authorized fishing season. The authorizedfishing season under this Action Plan is April 1— September 30.
3. Quota. For the 1995 season, the total quota ofminke whales authorized under this Action Plan
shall not exceed 50 animals.
4. Fishing grounds. The actual fishing grounds forminke whales under this Action Plan are identified
on the map appended to this Action Plan. The outerboundaries of these fishing grounds do not extend
beyond 50 nautical miles off the coastline of Japan.
5. Licensed vessels. The fishery shall be limited tono more than nine vessels based in one of the four
coastal whaling communities identified inparagraph 2 of Section 2. These vessels do not
exceed 26 meters in length and 50 tons in weight.
6. Vessels allocations. Each vessel will operate inaccordance with a vessel allocation of minke whales
from the total quota of 50 whales. A vessel
allocation under this Action Plan does not vest in
the vessel, the vessel owner, or any member of thevessel crew, any property right to the whale or whale
products processed from the whale.
7. Designated ports of landing for processing.
Minke whales caught pursuant to this Action Plan
shall be landed and processed by the whalers in oneof the three following ports:(a) Abashiri as described in paragraph 2(a) of Section2;(b) Hamanaka-cho, located in southeastern Hokkaido
on the Pacific Ocean coast. All product processedin Hamanaka-cho must be immediately transferredfor distribution to the Council in Ayukawa,
Wadaura, or Taiji where the landing vessel islicensed;(c) Ayukawa as described in paragraph 2(b) of Section 2.
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Action Plan for Japanese Community-based Whaling (CBW)Plan and supplemented by the general tax
base of the local municipal government.
3. Council functions(a) Each Council shall be vested with title to each whale
caught under this Action Plan from the time ofcapture by a vessel licensed within its constituent
community and to the processed whale products toensure appropriate handling and distribution.
(b) Each Council shall prepare a reimbursement
schedule for the direct and indirect costs incurredin the harvesting, processing and distribution of theprocessed whale products in accordance with the
distribution plan under Section 5 of this Action Plan.
The costs authorized for reimbursement by theCouncil shall be limited to the following:(1) fuel, expendable supplies and repairs;(2) insurance;(3) labor (including handling);(4) transportation;(5) cold storage; and,(6) indirect costs, calculated as a percentage ofthe above direct costs not to exceed 20
percent.
(c) Each Council shall appoint an external auditor (acertified public accountant or a licensed tax
accountant) to review each request for the
reimbursement of costs under this Action Plan andcertify whether the request is consistent with theCouncil reimbursement schedule. The Council
secretariat shall reimburse those requests that havebeen properly certified.
(d) Each Council shall prepare a management program
for the distribution of whale products held by theCouncil under this Active Plan. The management
program shall be prepared by the Council inaccordance with Section 5 of this Action Plan.
(e) Each Council shall promote within the community
the conservation of whale resources and the cultural,socio-economical, dietary, religious, and historicalsignificance of whaling to the community.
(f) Each Council shall prepare and submit a report ofits activities under this Action Plan to the Ministerby the end of the Council fiscal year.
(g) Each Council shall determine its organization andprescribe its practices and procedures for carryingout its functions under this Action Plan. Each
Council shall prepare a statement of its organization,practices and procedures.

distribution of whale meat in areas adjacent to theconstituent community shall be restricted to schools,
hospitals and nursing homes, and community
festivals and rites.
3. The distribution of whale meat within theconstituent community and areas adjacent to theconstituent community of a Council shall beestablished in conformity with traditional practices
according to the following priority:— shares for the vessel owners, crews and flensers;— schools, hospitals and nursing homes;— community festivals and rites;— individual community members; and— traditional guest houses and inns.
4. Levies shall be collected by the Councils upon
distribution of the whale meat in accordance withthe foregoing paragraph. The levies shall becalculated at levels required to recover only theadministrative and reimbursement costs incurred by
the Council. Each Council shall prepare a scheduleof levies to be collected. The schedule shall be
publicly announced.
5. Levies collected by each Council shall be deposited
into a special designated account andreimbursements paid by each Council shall bedrawn upon the same account.

SECTION 6. PENALTIES
Any person found to be in noncompliance with any
provision of this Action Plan shall be excluded from the
distribution of whale products.

SECTION 7. ENFORCEMENT
1. Vessel monitoring(a) Each whaling vessel licensed under this Action Plan
shall be equipped with a Global Positioning System(GPS) and shall maintain the GPS in goodfunctioning condition at all times during vessel
operations under this Action Plan.
(b) Each whaling vessel licensed under this Action
Plan shall report for a boarding inspection by anational inspector at a designated port of landingof each occasion before it departs to conductwhaling operations under the provisions of thisAction Plan and upon its return to the designatedport of landing.
2. National inspectors. A national inspector shall bestationed at each designated port of landing. The
national inspector shall:(a) board and inspect each licensed whaling vessel prior
to its departure from a designated port of landing
to conduct whaling operations under the provisionsof this Action Plan;(b) continuously monitor the position of each whaling
vessel authorized to land whales at the designatedport of landing where the national inspector is
stationed and coordinate vessel monitoring with the

SECTION 5. DISTRIBUTION AND
COLLECTION OF LEVIES
1. No less than 80 percent of the whale meat held by aCouncil shall be distributed within the constituent
community of the Council.
2. No more than 20 percent of the whale meat held bya Council may be distributed in areas adjacent tothe constituent community of the Council. The
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other national inspectors stationed at the otherdesignated ports of landing;(c) board and inspect each whaling vessel upon its
return to a designated port of landing;(d) enter and inspect each whale processing facility
during the processing of a whale harvested under
this Action Plan;(e) collect from each vessel upon landing all datarequired by the Minister; and,(f) immediately report any violation to the Minister.

AbashiriHamanaka
40°N

SECTION 8. MISCELLANEOUSPROVISIONS

Ayukawa

1. International observers. International observers
recommended by the IWC and authorized by acontracting government (sending nation) and Japan(receiving nation) shall be accepted at designatedports of landing to work with national inspectors.
2. Research and monitoring. The Government ofJapan shall conduct research and monitoring during
the implementation of this Action Plan and report
the results to the Scientific Committee of the IWC.
3. Oversight and compliance. The Government ofJapan shall extend appropriate oversight to ensurecompliance with this Action Plan.

Wadaura
Taiji

30°N

130°E

288

140°E

IWC/47/SEST2

SUMMARY STATEMENTACTION PLAN FOR JAPANESE COMMUNITY-BASED WHALINGThe Government of Japan
1995

INTRODUCTION

Entry into Japanese fisheries is strictly limited by theJapanese government through a licensing system. Only ninevessels are licensed to engage in small-type coastal whaling
within Japan’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Eachvessel is licensed in one of the four communities and will
operate under this Action Plan for the benefit of thecommunity in accordance with a vessel allocation from thetotal quota of 50 minke whales.
A vessel allocation does not vest in the vessel owner orvessel crew any legal property right to the whale orprocessed whale products. Rather, legal title is vested in
the Council located in the coastal whaling community wherethe vessel is licensed. The vessel, although privately owned,
is culturally viewed as an integral part of the Japanese
coastal whaling community. In this capacity, under thisAction Plan, the vessel functions as an agent of the Council
for taking the vessel allocation. This effectively prevents
the sale of the whale or any parts through customary andordinary commercial channels.
Because the licensed vessels for small-type coastal
whaling are so small, processing cannot be done on thevessel after capture. The whale is secured to the side of thevessel and landed at the nearest designated port of landing
for processing. Three ports of landing have been designatedin the Action Plan. Two of the designated ports of landing
are located in two of the coastal whaling communities,
Abashiri and Ayukawa, which are both situated near fishinggrounds for minke whales. Only licensed vessels from thesetwo communities will land in their own ports.
The third designated port of landing, Hamanaka-cho,is a very small coastal village in Hokkaido facing the major
fishing ground for minke whales. Vessels licensed in Taiji,
Wada and Ayukawa will operate in this fishing ground.
Therefore, these vessels will land their catches in
Hamanaka-cho for processing. Once a whale has beenprocessed, all the processed products will be immediatelytransferred to the Council located in the community where
the landing vessel is licensed.

Traditional small-type coastal whaling in Japan has been
seriously distressed since adoption of the moratorium oncommercial whaling by the International Whaling
Commission (IWC) in 1982. The four historical coastal
whaling communities identified in the Action Plan forJapanese Community-Based Whaling have suffered themost. Whaling has been the lifeblood of these communities,
dating as far back as 1606 in the community of Taiji. Efforts
to develop tourism and other business activities in thesecommunities have met with little success. The major reason
for Japanese people to visit these coastal communities is toexperience Japanese whaling culture. Without active
whaling, however, Japanese tourists have been few. And
the remoteness of these communities is not attractive toother industries.
The smaller and abundant minke whale was a major
component of the coastal catch prior to the moratorium.
Requests to the IWC for an interim relief allocation of 50
minke whales to alleviate the distress suffered by thesecommunities have been repeatedly rejected. However, at
the IWC 1993 Annual Meeting, a consensus resolution(IWC/45/51) called for expeditious work to alleviate the
distress suffered.
The Action Plan represents work over the past two years
to develop a comprehensive and enforceable management
program under which an interim relief allocation of 50
minke whales can be taken to alleviate the distress as
recognized in the resolution. The management program isdesigned to conform to Japanese administrative practices
and procedures to ensure effective implementation in Japan.
It is basically divided into three parts: (1) regulation ofoperation and processing; (2) regulation of the distribution;and (3) enforcement. This summary explains the key
operative provisions of the program.

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
The four coastal communities of Abashiri, Ayukawa,
Wadaura and Taiji have historically relied upon various
whale species for their nutritional and socio-economic wellbeing. But this Action Plan provides an interim relief
allocation of only one species, the minke whale, which was
the major species taken prior to the moratorium. The minke
whale population in the North Pacific is considered healthy
and is estimated by the IWC Scientific Committee to be atleast 25,000 animals. The interim relief allocation is set
conservatively at 50.

DISTRIBUTION
The distribution of the whale meat under this Action
Plan is managed by a Management Council located in eachof the coastal whaling communities. The Councils function
as a nonprofit government entity for distribution of theprocessed whale products. They will be vested with the legal
title to captured whales and processed whale products astrustees for the benefit of its constituent communities. The

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direct and indirect costs incurred from the harvesting,processing and distribution of the whale products are to be
reimbursed by the Councils from levies assessed against
the local consumers of the final product.
Maximum participation by community members in the
management process is an important component of the
Action Plan. The small village community in Japan istraditionally a very strong bonding agent for the people,
more so than kinship units. Although the traditional identityof most rural villages in Japan has been partially lost tolarger administrative units, these four coastal whaling
communities have not lost their traditional identity because
they are located in remote areas of Japan where larger,
modern-day administrative units do not exist. But more
importantly, it is because the cultural, economic, social,religious, dietary and historical significance of thesecommunities is still entirely dependent upon whaling.
Therefore, the importance of maximum participation bycommunity members on Councils is that it serves to bind theentire community to the distribution program. The Council
decision-making process will be by consensus as is customaryin Japan, And Council members will ensure approval by theirconstituencies before reaching a consensus. Therefore,
decisions by the Councils will be made with full community
understanding and support. This process has been a means
for maintaining social order in Japan for centuries and is still
effective in the smaller communities of modern Japan, suchas whaling communities.

inspector will check the logs of the vessel and make anaccounting of expendable supplies used in the taking of awhale. A similar inspection will be performed upon returnto the port. All expendable supplies used during the trip
must be accounted for in the vessel logs. Questions arisingfrom an inspection will be fully examined for possible
violations.
The provisions of the Action Plan will be enforced
through the Japanese administrative process as opposed tothe judicial process. The Japanese administrative process
is far less burdensome than the judicial process and far more
effective for enforcing regulatory programs in Japan.
Nonjudicial penalties can be imposed expeditiously as theresult of an administrative hearing.
For this regulatory program, the most effective deterrent
is the penalty to exclude a person from the distribution
process. This penalty is consistent with tradition practicein Japan. It is paid directly to the community for the breachof community trust which has been committed. In Japan,
where one’s identity with a small community is more
important than with kinship, this penalty represents a serious
loss of face and standing within the community. The
sanction of one’s peer group still remains a powerful meansof social order within Japan.

CONCLUSION
This Action Plan is designed to provide interim relief
to four coastal communities in Japan whose well-being has
been historically dependent upon coastal whaling. Theinterim relief provided by this Action Plan is consistent
with the principle of sustainable use and gives fullrecognition to maintaining the diversity of food cultures
around the world. We hope that judgment on this Action
Plan will be based upon objective scientific information
rather than political and emotional values.

OBSERVATION AND ENFORCEMENT
The information needed to adequately monitor thewhaling operation and manage the fishery can be assured
through the provisions of the Action Plan. Prior to eachtrip, the vessel must report for a boarding inspection by anational inspector at the designated port of landing. The

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ACTION PLAN FOR JAPANESE COMMUNITY-BASED WHALING (CBW)(REVISED)The Government of Japan1995

SECTION 1. FINDINGS, PURPOSES AND
POLICY(e) to ensure that there will be strict control over the
harvesting and distribution of whale products
resulting from the interim relief allocation;(f) to provide for maximum participation of the local
communities with appropriate levels of government
involvement and oversight in the implementationof this Action Plan.
3. Policy. It is the policy of the Government of Japanto make possible the continuation of the cultural,socio-economic, religious, dietary and historical
heritage of the four traditional coastal whaling
communities in Japan and to alleviate the social,
cultural and dietary distress suffered by thosecommunities as a result of the whaling moratoriumby providing an interim relief allocation of North
Pacific minke whales.

1. Findings. The findings of this Action Plan are as
follows:(a) Community-based whaling has deep roots inJapanese history and continues to provide four
traditional coastal whaling communities with thebasis of their social, cultural, nutritional, andeconomic well-being.
(b) Hardships have been imposed upon these coastal
whaling communities by the cessation of minke
whaling under the International Convention for the
Regulation of Whaling.
(c) The International Whaling Commission has
recognized these hardships in a consensus
resolution (IWC/45/51) calling for expeditious
work to alleviate the distress suffered by thesecommunities.
(d) The North Pacific minke whale population isclassified as healthy under the Schedule of the
ICRW. Its current population level has been agreed
by the IWC Scientific Committee to be at least
25,000 animals. The result of scientific research
conducted in 1994 in the North Pacific has shown,by varieties of methodology such as mtDNA
isosyme, pollutants and morphology analysis, thatthe targeted resource is composed of a single stock.
2. Purposes. Based upon the foregoing findings, thepurposes of this Action Plan are:(a) to make possible the continuation of the cultural,social, religious, dietary and historical heritage ofthe four traditional coastal whaling communities
in Japan;(b) to alleviate the profound social, cultural anddietary distress suffered by the four coastal
whaling communities through an interim relief
allocation;(c) to ensure that the edible whale products from theinterim relief allocation will be distributed within
the four traditional coastal whaling communities
of Japan;(d) to reimburse direct and indirect costs reasonably
incurred in the harvesting, processing anddistribution of the whale products authorizedunder this Action Plan and to collect levies fromconsumers calculated in a manner to recover
the reimbursements and the costs ofadministering this Action Plan;

SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS
1. The term ‘community-based whaling’ means
traditional small-scale coastal whaling having
profound socio-economic, social, cultural, dietary,and historical significance associated with thecatching, processing, distributing and consumptionof whale products in conformity with local tradition(IWC/44/SEST5) to the extent that interference withthese practices seriously endangers the viability andvitality of these traditional societies (see IWC/41/
SE3).
2. The term ‘coastal whaling community’ means oneof the four coastal whaling communities subject tothe provisions of this Action Plan. These four
coastal whaling communities, identified on the map
appended to this Action Plan, are:(a) Abashiri, located in northeastern Hokkaido on the
Sea of Okhotsk, Hokkaido Prefecture;(b) Ayukawa, located on the Oshika Peninsula innorthern Honshu on the Pacific Ocean, Miyagi
Prefecture;(c) Wadaura, located on the Boso Peninsula in central
Honshu on the Pacific Oceans, Chiba Prefecture;(d) Taiji, located on the Kii Peninsula in central Honshu
on the Pacific Ocean, Wakayama Prefecture.
3. The term ‘designated port of landing’ means anyof the three ports of landing identified in paragraph
7 of Section 3.
4. The term ‘Council’ means any one of the fourcommunity management Councils establishedunder Section 4 of this Action Plan.

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5. The term ‘Minister’ means the Minister of the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries ofJapan.
6. The term ‘person’ means any individual,
partnership, corporation, association, cooperative,
Council, or other entity, any national, prefectural,or local municipal government or any entity of agovernment.
7. The term ‘individual community member’ means
an individual person whose official residence islocated within one of the four coastal whaling
communities as defined in paragraph 2 of Section
2.
8. The term ‘whale products’ means any unprocessedor processed part of a whale, including, but notlimited to, blubber and meat.
9. The term ‘provisions of this Action Plan’ includes
any administrative guidance, regulation, guidelines
or permit issued in accordance with this ActionPlan.
10. The term ‘non-commercial’ means not to produce
any profits from the distribution of whale products
and from the sales of whale meat dishes at‘traditional guest houses and inns’ specified in
Section 5. 3.

whalers in one of the three following ports:(a) Abashiri as described in paragraph 2(a) of Section 2;(b) Hamanaka-cho, located in southeastern Hokkaido
on the Pacific Ocean coast. All product processedin Hamanaka-cho must be immediately transferredfor distribution to the Council in Ayukawa,
Wadaura, or Taiji where the landing vessel islicensed.;(c) Ayukawa as described in paragraph 2(b) of Section 2.
8. Processing specifications(a) The meat and other edible parts of the whales landed
for processing under the foregoing paragraph shallnot be processed into portions larger than one
kilogram.
(b) The processed whale products shall be packaged
and identified as product taken pursuant to thisAction Plan which can not be sold (except for thesales of whale meat dishes at traditional guest
houses and inns specified in Section 5.3.),
exchanged or bartered for commercial value.

SECTION 4. MANAGEMENT COUNCILS
1. Establishment. A management Council shall beestablished in each of the four coastal whaling
communities described in paragraph 2 of Section
2.
2. Organization(a) Membership. Each Council shall consist of no
more than 15 members appointed from among thefollowing government offices and community
organizations:(1) office of the community mayor;(2) administrative divisions for fisheries,
health, education & tourism within theprefectural and community governments;(3) administrative division for coastal fisheries
within the national government;(4) local school and hospital boards;(5) local chamber of commerce;(6) local fisheries and whaling cooperatives;(7) community citizen organization; and(8) whale product processors and distributors.
(b) Appointments. The members of each Council shallbe appointed by Minister.
(c) Officers. Each Council shall select from its
membership a Chairman to preside over meetingsof the Council and a Vice-Chairman to preside in
the absence of the Chairman.
(d) Advisors. Each Council shall appoint academic
advisors with relevant experience from such fields
as cetology and/or anthropology.
(e) Auditors(1) Each Council shall appoint an internal
auditor to oversee and audit all accounts
and activities of the Council.
(2) The local municipal government shall

SECTION 3. OPERATION AND
PROCESSING SPECIFICATIONS
1. Species. The species authorized under this Action
Plan is minke whale from the Okhotsk Sea-West
Pacific stock of the North Pacific.
2. Authorized fishing season. The authorized fishingseason under this Action Plan is April 1 —September 30.
3. Quota. The total quota of minke whales authorizedunder this Action Plan shall be decided separately.
4. Fishing grounds. The actual fishing grounds forminke whales under this Action Plan are identified
on the map appended to this Action Plan. The outerboundaries of these fishing grounds do not extend
beyond 50 nautical miles off the coastline of Japan.
5. Licensed vessels. The fishery shall be limited tono more than nine vessels based in one of the four
coastal whaling communities identified inparagraph 2 of Section 2. These vessels do not
exceed 26 meters in length and 50 tons in weight.
6. Vessel allocations. Each vessel will operate inaccordance with a vessel allocation of minke whales
from any quota authorized. A vessel allocation
under this Action Plan does not vest in the vessel,
the vessel owner, or any member of the vessel crew,
any property right to the whale or products
processed from the whale.
7. Designated ports of landing for processing.
Minke whales caught pursuant to this Action plan
shall be landed and processed immediately by the292Action Plan for Japanese Community-based Whaling (CBW) (Revised)appoint an external auditor to inspect andaudit all accounts of the Council and theaccounts of the municipal government
related to Council activities.
(f) Secretariat(1) Each Council shall appoint a secretariat tocarry out the administrative functions of theCouncil.
(2) The local municipality shall provide thesecretariat with appropriate office space andnecessary administrative support services.
(g) Compensation and expenses(1) Council members shall serve on a voluntarybasis without compensation.
(2) C o m p e n s a t i o n a n d e x p e n s e s f o r
management of the Council and its
secretariat shall be paid from levies
collected under Section 5 of this Action
Plan and supplemented by the general tax
base of the local municipal government.
3. Council functions(a) Each Council shall be vested with title to each whale
caught under this Action Plan from the time ofcapture by a vessel licensed within its constituent
community and to the processed whale products toensure appropriate handling and distribution.
(b) Each Council shall prepare a reimbursement
schedule for the direct and indirect costs incurredin the harvesting, processing and distribution of theprocessed whale products in accordance with the
distribution plan under Section 5 of this Action Plan.
The costs authorized for reimbursement by theCouncils shall be limited to the following:(1) fuel, expendable supplies and repairs;(2) insurance;(3) labor (including handling);(4) transportation;(5) cold storage; and,(6) indirect costs, calculated as a percentage ofthe above direct costs not to exceed 20
percent.
(c) Each Council shall appoint an eternal auditor (acertified public accountant or licensed tax
accountant) to review each request for the
reimbursement of costs under this Action Plan andcertify whether the request is consistent with theCouncil reimbursement schedule. The Council
secretariat shall reimburse those requests that havebeen properly certified.
(d) Each Council shall prepare a management program
for the distribution of whale products held by theCouncil under this Action Plan. The management
program shall be prepared by the Council inaccordance with Section 5 of this Action Plan.
(e) Each Council shall promote within the community
the conservation of whale resources and thecultural, socio-economical, dietary, religious, andhistorical significance of whaling to thecommunity.
(f) Each Council shall prepare and submit a report ofits activities under this Action Plan to the Ministerby the end of the Council fiscal year.
(g) Each Council shall determine its organization andprescribe its practices and procedures for carryingout its functions under this Action Plan. Eachcouncil shall prepare a statement of its organization,practices and procedures.

SECTION 5 . DISTRIBUTION AND
COLLECTION OF LEVIESThis section addresses how the profit motive is removed
from this operation, and to assure that it shall be noncommercial.
1. No less than 80 percent of the whale meat held by aCouncil shall be distributed within the constituent
community of the Council.
2. No more than 20 percent of the whale meat held bya Council may be distributed in areas adjacent tothe constituent community of the Council. The
distribution of whale meat in areas adjacent to theconstituent community shall be restricted to schools,
hospitals and nursing homes, and community
festivals and rites.
3. The distribution of whale meat within theconstituent community and areas adjacent to theconstituent community of a Council shall beestablished in conformity with traditional practices
according to the following priority:— shares for the vessel owners, crews and flensers;— schools, hospitals and nursing homes;— community festivals and rites;— individual community members; and— traditional guest houses and inns.
The Council shall set controlled prices so as to eliminate the profit from the sales of whale meat dishes
at traditional guest houses and inns specified above.
4. Levies shall be collected by the Councils upon
distribution of the whale meat in accordance withthe foregoing paragraph. The levies shall becalculated at levels required to recover only theadministrative and reimbursement costs incurred by
the Council. Each Council shall prepare a scheduleof levies to be collected. The schedule shall be
publicly announced.
5. Levies collected by each Council shall be deposited
into a special designated account andreimbursements paid by each Council shall bedrawn upon the same account.
6. Sale of the distributed product shall be strictly
prohibited, expect for the sales of whale meat
dishes at traditional guest houses and inns
specified in Section 5.3.

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SECTION 6. PENALTIES

vessel authorized to land whales at the designatedport of landing where the national inspector is
stationed and coordinate vessel monitoring with theother national inspectors stationed at the otherdesignated ports of landing;(c) board and inspect each whaling vessel upon its
return to a designated port of landing;(d) enter and inspect each whale processing facility
during the processing of a whale harvested under
this Action Plan;(e) collect from each vessel upon landing all datarequired by the Minister; and,(f) immediately report any violation to the Minister.

Any person found to be in noncompliance with any
provision of this Action Plan shall be excluded from the
distribution of whale products.

SECTION 7. ENFORCEMENT
1. Vessel monitoring(a) Each whaling vessel licensed under this Action Plan
shall be equipped with a Global Positioning System(GPS) and shall maintain the GPS in goodfunctioning condition at all times during vessel
operations under this Action Plan.
(b) Each whaling vessel licensed under this Action Plan
shall report for a boarding inspection by a national
inspector at a designated port of landing on eachoccasion before it departs to conduct whaling
operations under the provisions of this Action Planand upon its return to the designated port of landing.
2. National inspectors. A national inspector shall bestationed at each designated port of landing. The
national inspector shall:(a) board and inspect each licensed whaling vessel prior
to its departure from a designated port of landing
to conduct whaling operations under the provisionsof this Action Plan;(b) continuously monitor the position of each whaling

SECTION 8. MISCELLANEOUSPROVISIONS
1. International observers. International observers
recommended by the IWC and authorized by acontracting government (sending nation) and Japan(receiving nation) shall be accepted at designatedports of landing to work with national inspectors.
2. Research and monitoring. The Government ofJapan shall conduct research and monitoring during
the implementation of this Action Plan and report
the results to the Scientific Committee of the IWC.
3.
(a) Oversight and compliance. The Government ofJapan shall extend appropriate oversight to ensurecompliance with this Action Plan.
(b)The integrity of whale meat distributed by theCouncil shall be guaranteed by DNA testing andanalysis by the appropriate authority once it enters
the port.
This is to enable the authority to:(a) determine the stock from which the meat
originates;(b) assist in tracking the product throughdistribution; and(c) ensure that no other species of whale willenter into the program.

Map of place names mentioned in the text

AbashiriHamanaka
40°N
Ayukawa

Wadaura
Taiji

30°N

130°E

140°E

294